Naruto brings Hinata's face to him time and time again. Until she finally giggles, and that sound calms him, makes him feel anguished all over again but ultimately fills him with enough strength to stop smothering her and ask Kiba to bring the people he can gather for a meeting.
"Already called for them, my lord."
There is good humor among them for a while, Naruto asking about more mundane things to Kiba and Hinata. Forgetting for a second what has happened to them. Naruto asks Hinata about their baby and there is a blissful second in which Hinata lets herself be excited again. A to-be new mother sharing the news of their baby to a to-be new father.
A blissful second.
Until Shikamaru opens the door to their room and Naruto wipes off the soft smile on his face.
There is a wound running down Shikamaru's face across his nose. Fresh and pink. Tight and with cream over it, surely in hopes of helping it heal.
"My lord."
Shikamaru is all purpose and poise. He bows slightly and walks in in order to sit and start his report, but Naruto is quick to rise and come to him. A careful hug Shikamaru is at first too shocked to return.
"My lord," he says again. This time with mirth, his eyes crinkling as he smirks at Naruto's antics.
Naruto whispers a barely audible thank you Shikamaru treasures, and then they sit and talk business.
Tsume comes and goes a while later -accompanied by Hana-. Her face is harsh and she assures Naruto they have gathered enough people to be able to get at least a couple of confessions later on. She leaves in a flash the moment a howl sounds in the distance.
Lord Minato and Lord Jiraiya come together. They give Naruto hurried hugs and Minato takes a second to drag his hands over his son's body, Naruto lets him. The moment Minato realizes he's uninjured he smiles while looking at his son's eyes. He says nothing, and Naruto feels compelled to assure him somehow. That this will not go unpunished.
"I'll make them pay."
Minato gives him a face. A mixture of pride and pain he hides immediately after. They report their findings and then leave again.
There are too many holes around the clan now, and every hand available can make a difference.
Naruto remains hidden. Or somewhat on the low. His team hasn't arrived yet and the enemy may still think he's outside.
If they attack again the clan's Beast Tamer will be ready for them.
Naruto wants them to attack again.
They leave to see Neji. Hinata has stayed near him since he fell in battle and the moment they enter the room he's being treated in Naruto understands why.
It smells like death in here. The bodies of those who actually died in battle or were just victims of the attack rest nearby and the smell of medicine and blood swirls around.
Hinata knows the way and although he can tell she wishes to move faster she stops to greet the people around. Those who ask to talk to her, those who ask to touch her.
Naruto feels heavy with guilt. They protected her and the heir and although the pain is unbearable to some and keeps them from sitting up, they look proud.
Naruto steels himself and walks around too, letting his face be seen. Letting them know that they can rest now.
He will handle the rest.
Hinata disappears then and Naruto follows by sensing her chakra. A nearby partition and then another, and then Hinata waiting patiently for him to catch up to her.
"He's in h-here."
Her face looks full with emotion and Naruto wonders whether he should praise Neji's sacrifice or chastise him for it. He knows his answer, so he remains silent. His hand searches for Hinata and Sakura surprises the both of them.
Her face lights up the moment Naruto comes into her sight.
"My lord!"
A bear hug, her face snuggling against his chest and Naruto feels his heart clenching again. His people faced this danger alone and he can't help the relief that overcomes him everytime he sees them safe again. He hugs her back, his face to her hair, like when they saw each other after one of his long trips around the clans.
Naruto feels like he hasn't seen his people in so long.
Sakura distances herself, gives herself one second to relish in the presence of Naruto again and then brings her hand to his arm. "Any injuries?"
"No."
She nods, and her eyes are filled with the same emotion as his father. And then Naruto can see the purple marks going down her face, starting from the small x on her forehead. "What the-"
Sakura reaches up, confused, then remembers and scoffs a little. "Right, you didn't see it. Nothing to worry about, tried one of the neat tricks Lord Jiraiya brought from his trip," she motions for them to enter the partition she just came out of. "It was meant to store chakra and yada yada," Hinata seems to know the way just as much as Sakura, so Naruto knows where they are going, "I was doing it out of pure curiosity, but lo and behold, it came in handy like nothing else has."
Neji is sleeping in a white stretcher, and seeing him without the green glow of healing chakra over him is enough for Hinata to raise her voice.
"D-does this mean-? Is he a-all right?"
"Not yet out of the bushes, but significantly better."
Naruto catches Hinata as her knees falter, Sakura not far behind. Hinata whimpers and Naruto tries to bring her to him, but she resists, making her way to look at Sakura.
"I'm s-sorry-"
"My lady…"
"I-" she tries to talk but a shuddering breath interrupts her and she lets her tears fall as relief fills her body.
Sakura feels for her. She had never seen Lady Hinata so dejected and lost as when she found her pressing into Neji's wound. Lady Hinata hasn't said it, but it is obvious she feels guilty of asking Sakura to help Neji instead of the other injured.
And Sakura won't admit it to anyone, but she knows others died in order for her to give Neji a chance.
"My lady, I did my best, but we will have to wait and see how Neji responds."
Lady Hinata nods, then walks to Neji's side and neither Sakura nor Naruto follow.
"Will he be all right?"
And Sakura bites her lip as she answers her lord, "I did try my best, and…" Hinata walks as if she could wake Neji up with her sounds, rests her hand on his chest and Sakura can't help but feel glad she's a busybody, "I can only hope I performed the surgery correctly. All came from Lord Jiraiya's notes."
"Really?"
"Really. You know, the ones he got from that lady he likes to talk about."
"The medic friend."
"Well, medic friend saved the day. Not only her notes had information regarding this," she motions to her forehead, "she also wrote a bunch of stuff regarding medical treatments." Sakura's voice is full of admiration, and now Naruto knows Jiraiya's friend is the real deal. "Neji had a collapsed lung and was losing blood like-" Sakura opens her arms, motioning a splash in front of her, "All I can say is that if he comes back from this it's all her."
"You were the one who performed the surgery, though."
"And a bunch of assistans, yes."
Sakura nods a few times, then her fears all come back together, and she can't help but look at Naruto, put her arm behind his back. She's scared. "Don't die, okay?"
Naruto scoffs at her words. Takes them as a light-hearted comment from his friend. Out of everyone ever, he is the one with the DIE sign on his head, they have made jokes regarding his situation enough times to become somewhat numb to it.
Naruto prefers it that way.
But he looks at her one second, ready to make fun of her too, and then he freezes. Her eyes are watery and the worry in her face is heart-breaking. He can feel the hand at his back clasping at his clothes with desperation.
"Sakura…"
He is not prepared for this. He has never been.
"We have never been attacked like this, have we?" Naruto remains silent, and Sakura knows they're treading into new territory. Territory they have talked about and prepared for. Knew it would come.
"Naruto." Her voice is quiet and her eyes are locked with Neji. "Naruto, I don't want to have to choose who to save in the future."
Naruto can feel his heart squeezing. Sakura is the clan's best medic, trained by the best, a know-it-all that eats knowledge for breakfast. If you're in her hands you can breathe easier. Rest assured.
But she's one person.
One person in a sea of injured. Naruto can imagine-
"Shikamaru was bleeding as if a fountain had broken over his face, but he refused for me to check him, we had to find Lady Hinata first. Kiba was fine, but one of our own nearby was... " she chokes up, remembers the body thrown about as if it were a discarded doll. "I made sure Lady Hinata was all right and then got so flustered over where to go next. Who to treat first."
Lady Hinata had been a shivering mess, her hands bathed in blood that seemed to never stop from Neji's chest. There were the maids there, a bunch of Inuzuka around too.
But Lady Hinata's quiet voice had pleaded for her to save Neji.
Neji. Who to anyone around looked like a dead man already.
Neji, who to Sakura meant focusing all of herself on him and his wound.
Neji, cousin of Lady Hinata and Sakura's own almost-friend but… just one man over at least a dozen Sakura could save in the same amount of time.
"I couldn't decide, Shikamaru was giving orders to those around him and Kiba came and snapped me out of it. 'Lady Hinata asked for Neji to be saved, don't overthink it,' he said. But I did. I do still. His value as an asset is huge, I know, and in the end I don't regret my decision, trust me, but- It's not only that, it's the fact that I saw Shikamaru hurt and I feared Kiba would be too, if Lady Hinata had been hurt…"
"Sakura-"
"And the only reason we got this unscathed," she insists, stressing the word, "is because Lord Minato and Lord Jiraiya managed to seal the Seven-Tails, you know? Had they not sealed that monster at that moment…"
"Sakura-" Naruto repeats, his own mind spiralling down.
"I do not want to choose."
Her brows are furrowed in an attempt to keep her fears at bay. She sees her own reflection on Naruto's semblance, and she half-regrets sharing this but- she needed someone to know.
She needs Naruto to know.
"I'm here now," he reassures. Although his voice is quiet and slightly drowned by emotion.
"And if you ever have to choose-"
"I don't want to choose." Sakura repeats, with a tone that begs to be final.
She knows what Lord Naruto will say. And she doesn't know if she could bear to hear it.
•····························•····························•
Naruto enters his bedroom late into the night. Making as little sound as possible, sure that Hinata is sleeping.
He has a stack of papers on one hand he leaves somewhere nearby for tomorrow. Shikamaru has worked himself to the bone these past few days. Tsume as well, Kiba, his father, Jiraiya, grandma Mito-
Everyone. Everyone has been put through the grinder and Naruto can feel the snarl that threatens to spill from his mouth. He keeps himself in check.
And he does so by promising to retaliate.
The amount of people they have to prove the participation of a number of clans in this whole ordeal is enough to give him a headache. He has no idea how they were duped into this battle, but it doesn't matter.
They attacked first and this is a consequence. A consequence they should have prepared themselves for.
"Naruto?"
Hinata's voice is laced with sleep. Naruto is undressing himself quietly near his wardrobe one second and then laying next to his wife -clothes half-worn- the next.
"I didn't want to wake you up, sorry, are you all right? Go back to sleep."
Hinata says nothing, but her hands find his face, her fingers drag across his cheeks, and then she brings him to her. Her arms around his neck, movements sluggish yet strong.
"Naruto."
It's the longing in her voice that breaks him. It's the way she rubs against him that melts him to a puddle and begs for him to drag his lips across her skin. Wherever he can.
"I'm here, love."
She's awake now. And Naruto has to brush away the tears that begin to fall down her cheeks.
"Naruto."
His lips ghost over her face, his own chin trembling in pain. "I'm here," he whines.
"I'm here."
Hinata settles after a while, with her hand on his hand, her other at his chest. With his name as a mantra.
Naruto doesn't really want to start a fight. A war. He doesn't want to worry about the logistics of who to attack and who to send and which clan will be an ally or a foe.
Naruto doesn't want to worry about losing one of his people, one of his friends, or his family.
The many classes his father taught him about the art of war come to mind, and Naruto can't help but remember the way he thought back then, the confidence with which he would answer tactical questions. And they were correct. They were always correct, because he would be damned if he didn't perform as expected.
His father would praise him. The elders would nod along. But then Shikamaru would come up to him afterwards and tell him that wars were never that simple, that reality was never as simple as a written problem.
But they were children. And Sakura would chime in and back Naruto up. Assure him that she would be there to heal him if needed. And Naruto would laugh. And then Shikamaru would scoff and bury himself in the library.
But time passed and Naruto would understand Shikamaru's words. Sakura too, her own head buried in books about medicine that not even Shikamaru would try to understand. All of them, and everyone around them prepared for what was to come. No one knew what, no one knew when. But they knew someday, something would happen.
Naruto faced adversity time and time again, but even then, whatever obstacle would appear, he was confident they would overcome it. They had his grandma and his father and his godfather and all the best people he had ever known.
And then, if it ever came down to it, they had him. A Beast Tamer.
If needed, he would wipe down the enemy no problem.
Whatever the cost, he would defend his people, his clan, his family.
Because he could.
Out of anyone ever, he had the power to do so.
Hinata's breathing is deep and soft and Naruto is glad she could go back to sleep.
Sakura's frightened face comes to mind. Her words echo inside of him and Naruto feels anxious and restless and he, too, wishes he wasn't in this position. Because he-
"I don't want to choose, either," he whispers into the night.
But nobody hears him.
Just wanted to start all of this with a huge thank you to everyone who has left a comment, followed, favorited and read this story.
Knowing this story is entertainment to all of you helps me keep on doing my best. It also fills my tiny dumb heart. So thank you.
Have kisses (づ￣ 3￣)づ
As for the story, things have calmed down(?) (ignore Naruto's almost melt down near the end (◔◡◔))
Our babies will have a well-deserved one-on-one moment (if ya catch my drift) and then things will get messy again.
Take care, have a great one, see you next week!
PS.
Thank you as always, Ramona, for leaving your thoughts on the chapter! As for Neji, I have always thought *clenches fist* he should have lived, so you'll find me on the corner crying over his canon death lol
And ಥ_ಥ what a great compliment knowing that though you got here and had no expectations, I've been able to make an enjoyable experience out of this. Thanks!
We have new guests over here, people, shoutout to them! whoot whoot!
Purple! Thanks for the compliment over the smut, love to know it's good enough. Soon we'll have some more (◔◡◔). Hinata's stutter will become somewhat of a plot point further down the road! She'll stutter less, but for reasons we've yet to know!
Spiffy21! Thank you so much for the *heart eyes* (❤´艸｀❤) Hinata will have a more actiony role in the future, yes! Not actiony as she will go there and kick someone's ass, but actiony as in she'll have to confront things that affect her, she'll prove herself wrong regarding her more pessimist thoughts!
Guest n°1! ((I guess?))You didn't leave a name (っ °Д °;)っ) Thank you so much for the compliment ಥ_ಥ
Guest n°2! (Another different guest, I think? maybe?(●ˇ∀ˇ●)) Thanks for the compliments, toooooo ಥ_ಥ, have my tears. Hinata is now nearing her eighth month of pregnancy!